Hmm... just been trawling through posts on the Living France forum, and come across mentions of the above, plus others. What kinds of wildlife hazards am I likely to meet up with while innocently gardening? (South Morvan). I like snakes, but obviously don't want to come off worst in a confrontation with one. Cattle ticks?? There's a field next door to my house but no sign of inhabitants, bovine or otherwise, when I was there in April. Forewarned is forearmed. (I prefer snakes to cows, which are big and scary and stand on your feet and lean on you and push you into rivers ... in my limited experience! I don't care if they do have sweet breath.)
I don't think you'll find any problems at all at the house. Snakes are normally as keen to avoid the humans as vice versa. Remember though what your mum said, " If you go down to the woods......."
More importantly, what cows have you been kissing????
Beware of ticks! We have a large field with no cattle, sheep or any other inhabitants ( except for 2 mad dogs! )The dogs are always getting ticks despite being treated once a month. If a tick gets on you and bites, you could be unlucky enough to get Limes disease. This is a nasty dehabilitating illness. I can only suggest that if the grass is long do not walk through it bare legged or barefooted. Someone suggested to me to use an insect repellant spray, haven't tried it yet though. If you do get a tick bite and start to feel unwell, go to the doctor. Don't want to alarm you, there are lots of people who have never been infected. But as you say, forewarned is forearmed!
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Hi You should be very careful removing ticks as leaving the head in can cause problems. There are various tick removers on the market one being manufactured in France www.otom.com. A handy little plastic gadget that removes ticks safely and quickly. Lymes disease is nasty and there is also the risk of a new type of tick born disease that causes swelling of the brain. Working for in the environment sector we have now risk assessments regarding ticks so please be careful out there
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You can get the plastic tick removers that Dominque is talking about from all vets. We use Frontline Combo on the dogs. It doesn't stop the ticks going on them but they die pretty quickly ( the ticks, not the dogs!)When ever we cut grass, whether ours or clients, we always check ourselves afterwards to make sure ticks haven't landed on us. Horrible little critters, why were they ever invented!
Julie
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